Top 10 Ways to Be an Ornery Author

It seems like authors have been stereotyped (apologies to those who handwrite their drafts... make that stereowritten). If you're feeling ornery about that, here are some tips to help...

1. Don't be a self-proclaimed coffee addict. (Come on, water fans!!)
2. Write something in a genre no one else is.
3. Write a happy story.
4. Try to avoid words like "dreamer" and "scribbling" in your bio. (Everybody uses those!)
5. Admit that washing dishes is part of your life...

...Read the rest at http://word-painters.blogspot.com!

All the Beautiful People

Do you find yourself writing people who could be models or actors—never a hair out of place?

Let's let our characters be real enough to be un-beautiful at least part of the time. Don't you think they might like a break?

Check out my latest post on the Word Painters writing blog!

http://word-painters.blogspot.com/2013/12/all-beautiful-people.html

What's in a Name?

Mariachi band | Wikimedia

Ever heard of Mariachi band members whose names are Larry, Bubba, Joe-Bob, and Stinky?
Yeah, me neither.
Read my latest post on Word Painters for some helpful character naming tips... http://word-painters.blogspot.com/2013/10/whats-in-name.html

Puppet-Writing 101

Photo credit: Jonathan_n | sxc.hu

So, you have this amazing story and you need some people to act it out in your book. Well, you've come to the write place. In 5 simple steps, I'm going to tell you how to write the perfect actors--ones on strings, no less!

Step 1: Think about your storyline and decide what stereotypes would best fit the plot's needs. Go beyond, "I'll need a good guy and a bad guy." If you need your bad guy to be stealing something, make him the quintessential thief (you know: mask, big black bag, tiptoes across rooflines--the works). If your good guy needs to be a romantically interesting rancher, go all-out Roy Rogers.

Step 2: Pick some names that fit your stereotypes in Step 1. Also, good guys must have good-sounding names and bad guys need to have names that smack of evil and darkness. Be careful to draw this distinction; you really don't want people getting confused at any point.

Step 3: As you begin writing, make sure to tell the narrative bits in the stiffest way possible. (Like a sports commentator--minus the excitability. "He picked up the guitar. He then began to play and sing. Everyone in the room listened.") Remember, these are just puppets, so you really just have to report their movements as succinctly and factually as possible.

Step 4: Also, the perfect puppet will deliver his lines flawlessly and say exactly what he should. (Oh, and puppets usually use near-perfect grammar in everything they say.) The words will be just right, so don't worry about the delivery or pacing or spacing or stuttering or repeating oneself or misunderstandings that come about in real-life conversation. Never forget: puppets aren't very creative by themselves.

Step 5: Don't get too involved in fleshing out your puppets because if you allow them backstories, feelings, motives, character, and individual personalities, you may find you have difficulty keeping them to exactly what you've mapped out. This step is extremely important. Be very careful, or you might end up with people instead of puppets. And characters with backstories, feelings, motives, character, and personalities drive stories. Really good ones.


What books have you read that made you feel like the character of the characters was not driving the story, but being driven by it? What tips might help us all avoid this in our writing?

(This has been cross-posted on Word Painters.)

How To Write on (Almost) Everything

Awhile back when we were going on a road trip to visit my in-laws, I figured out a marvelous system for having access to my current writing projects no matter where I am. (Obviously if your WIP is in a notebook, you just have to grab it and go.)

I thought I'd share the system I've worked out. It involves these two components...

and

Writebox

And of course whatever technology I could forsee myself using to write. For me that would be my computer online or offline, my Android tablet online or offline, and someone else's computer--hubby's, my parents', my inlaws'--whoever. (You might use your phone instead of a tablet; I haven't done this because my phone is currently having a bad attitude.)

So... how does this work?

Basically, my writing projects are all saved as .txt files--a very "vanilla" file type allowing them to be easily created, viewed, and edited by any of my available technology options.

My Computer - Online

So, if I am sitting at my computer at home when I begin a new document, all I have to do is use my text editor (You'll have Notepad or Wordpad if you're on Windows, or--what is the Mac equivalent?). I create my document, and save it as a .txt file in the Dropbox folder on my computer.

There it is! The one with the handy little check mark telling me it's synced!

I can type some more, and whenever I hit "Save," it will sync those changes to my Dropbox account.

My Computer - Offline

Now... what if I'm not connected to the internet? Say my connection is down but I have work to do. Not a problem. I can still access the file here on my computer. I can work on it and save it, and then--tada! Whenever my connection is re-established, the changes will automatically be synced!

My Tablet - Online

(This option would totally work for a smartphone that doesn't have attitude problems like mine does.) I've downloaded Dropbox's free app from the Google Play store. I can access the latest, synced version of my WIP, work on it with Dropbox's built-in editor, save it/sync it, and the changes will instantly be reflected everywhere--even on the file stored on my computer back at home! 

My Tablet - Offline

Since my tablet is wi-fi only, there are plenty of times (like during road trips) when I don't have an internet connection. That's okay, because before I leave for my trip I can, from within the app, "star" the documents I will need offline access to and--voila! I will be able to work on them even without a connection. Again, next time I have a connection, changes I made while offline will automatically sync across the board! WOW!

(A quick note: If you're like me and you hate typing on a touchscreen for large amounts of text, you have a couple options. There are all sorts of cool Bluetooth keyboards out there: tiny ones, roll-up ones, fold-up ones... the important thing is to find one that is comfortable to type on. Otherwise, it's no more convenient than the touchscreen. The other thing that works well is handwriting recognition input. Some phones and tablets come with this feature. If your device does not, you can buy a handwriting recognition app called 7notes with Mazec, allowing you to write on the screen with your finger or a stylus. It will convert your handwriting to typed text. There's a little bit of a learning curve, but it's a great input method.)

Someone Else's Computer - Online only

Let's say I want to work on my WIP and the only device available to me is someone else's computer. Not a problem. All I have to do is go to http://write-box.appspot.com/ and sign in/link my Dropbox account. There are all my files and a handy online editor! Hitting Ctrl-S will sync the document as will clicking the "Sync" button at the top of the page. When I'm done, I can click the menu button (looks like three bars stacked), go to "Account," and Unlink so the next person to use the computer isn't able to access my Dropbox account. (It's like signing out.)

Writebox online app. New blank document ready to go. Simple, isn't it!

(A quick note: I even like to use Writebox when I'm on my own computer because of the distraction-free, clean look. If you hit F11--or whatever the equivalent is for your computer--the window will go completely full-screen, hiding from view all the other distracting things on your browser. It's pretty handy!)

(Another quick note: Writebox has apps for iPad and iPhone as well as Chrome. I don't have experience with any of these, but they might work great for you!)

With this set up, no matter where I am, what I'm doing, or how many miles are left of our road trip, I can keep writing!

(This has been cross-posted on Word Painters.)